2 Kings 7:8 Komentář

Relief is here brought to Samaria and her king, when the case is, in a manner, desperate, and the king despairing. I. It is foretold by Elisha, and an unbelieving lord shut out from the benefit of it (Kg2 7:1, Kg2 7:2). II. It is brought about, 1. By an unaccountable fright into which God put the Syrians (Kg2 7:6), which caused them to retire precipitately (Kg2 7:7). 2. By the seasonable discovery which four lepers made of this (Kg2 7:3-5), and the account which they gave of it to the court (Kg2 7:8-11). 3. By the cautious trial which the king made of the truth of it (Kg2 7:12-15). III. The event answered the prediction both in the sudden plenty (Kg2 7:16), and the death of the unbelieving lord (Kg2 7:17-20); for no word of God shall fall to the ground.

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 7 This chapter begins with a prophecy of great plenty in Samaria on the morrow, and of the death of an unbelieving lord, Kg2 7:1, relates the case of four lepers, who that night went into the Syrian camp, which was deserted, occasioned by the noise of chariots, horses, and a host, which they fancied they heard, Kg2 7:3, the report which the lepers made to the king's household of this affair, and the method the king's servants took to know the truth of it, Kg2 7:10 which, when confirmed, the people went out and spoiled the tents of the Syrians, whereby the prophecy of plenty was fulfilled, Kg2 7:16, and the unbelieving lord having post at the gate of the city assigned him, was trod to death, and so the prediction concerning him had its accomplishment also, Kg2 7:17.

And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent,.... The first they came to: and did eat and drink; which was the first thing they did, being hungry, and almost starved: and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; in a place without the camp, where they thought it would be safe, and where they could come at it again: and came again and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it; this, Josephus says (z), they did four times. (z) Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 9. c. 4.) sect. 5.

Elisha foretells abundant relief to the besieged inhabitants of Samaria, Kg2 7:1. One of the lords questions the possibility of it; and is assured that he shall see it on the morrow, but not taste of it, Kg2 7:2. Four lepers, perishing with hunger, go to the camp of the Syrians to seek relief and find it totally deserted, Kg2 7:3-5. How the Syrians were alarmed, and fled, Kg2 7:6, Kg2 7:7. The lepers begin to take the spoil, but at last resolve to carry the good news to the city, Kg2 7:8-11. The king, suspecting some treachery, sends some horsemen to scour the country, and see whether the Syrians are not somewhere concealed; they return, and confirm the report that the Syrians are totally fled, Kg2 7:12-15. The people go out and spoil the camp, in consequence of which provisions become as plentiful as Elisha had foretold, Kg2 7:16. The unbelieving lord, having the charge of the gate committed to him, is trodden to death by the crowd, Kg2 7:17-20.

ELISHA PROPHESIES INCREDIBLE PLENTY IN SAMARIA. (2Ki. 7:1-16) Hear ye the word of the Lord--This prediction, though uttered first to the assembled elders, was intimated to the king's messengers, who reported it to Jehoram (Kg2 7:18). To-morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, &c.--This may be estimated at a peck of fine flour for 2s. 6d., and two pecks of barley at the same price. in the gate of Samaria--Vegetables, cattle, all sorts of country produce, are still sold every morning at the gates of towns in the East.

these lepers . . . did eat and drink--After they had appeased their hunger and secreted as many valuables as they could carry, their consciences smote them for concealing the discovery and they hastened to publish it in the city.

Elisha announced to him the word of the Lord: "At the (this) time to-morrow a seah of wheaten flour (סלת, see at Kg1 5:2) will be worth a shekel, and two seahs of barley a shekel in the gate, i.e., in the market, at Samaria." A seah, or a third of an ephah = a Dresden peck (Metze), for a shekel was still a high price; but in comparison with the prices given in Kg2 6:25 as those obtained for the most worthless kinds of food, it was incredibly cheap. The king's aide-de-camp (שׁלישׁ: see at Sa2 23:8; נשׁען למּלך אשׁר, an error in writing for נשׁ המּלך אשׁר, cf. Kg2 7:17, and for the explanation Kg2 5:18) therefore replied with mockery at this prophecy: "Behold (i.e., granted that) the Lord made windows in heaven, will this indeed be?" i.e., such cheapness take place. (For the construction, see Ewald, 357, b.) The ridicule lay more especially in the "windows in heaven," in which there is an allusion to Gen 7:11, sc. to rain down a flood of flour and corn. Elisha answered seriously: "Behold, thou wilt see it with thine eyes, but not eat thereof" (see Kg2 7:17.). The fulfilment of these words of Elisha was brought about by the event narrated in Kg2 7:3.

When these lepers (these, pointing back to Kg2 7:3.) came into the camp which the Syrians had left, they first of all satisfied their own hunger with the provisions which they found in the tents, and then took different valuables and concealed them. But their consciences were soon aroused, so that they said: We are not doing right; this day is a day of joyful tidings: if we are silent and wait till the morning light, guilt will overtake us; "for it is the duty of citizens to make known things relating to public safety" (Grotius). They then resolved to announce the joyful event in the king's palace, and reported it to the watchman at the city gate. העיר שׁער stands as a generic term in a collective sense for the persons who watched at the gate; hence the following plural להם, and in Kg2 7:11 השּׁערים. "And the gate-keepers cried out (what they had heard) and reported it in the king's palace."